Achieving fitness goals starts with self-perception.
“There is no reality, there is only hallucination. Reality is just a hallucination we agree on.”Abhijit Naskar (Neuroscientist and Author)
Today, I really want to challenge you.
Not just a little push, but a deep dive into the stories you tell yourself about your life, your situation, your training, and your relationships—everything.
When I say perception, I mean the way something is regarded, understood, or interpreted. Not just 'the senses' in a physiological sense, though our perceptions do affect our senses and vice versa—wild, right? (We can discuss that another time.)
Here's my question: In the last few weeks, what narratives have been running through your mind when it comes to your health practices? More importantly, are they directly contradicting the results you seek?
A common example might be:
Perception 1: "I'm just not a very motivated person. I hate the feeling of exercise, gyms are gross, and I just can't get motivated to exercise at home. I'll stick to walks and the odd fitness class."
This is a reasonable statement and opinion to hold. However, if it contradicts your goals, the person you want to become, or the strength of character you want to develop, then it is not reasonable. Nor should it be accepted.
If there’s a part of you that does want to walk through a gym feeling confident, that does want to be stronger, fitter, faster, and more flexible, and that does want to understand how to train effectively, then not living up to that version of yourself will become more painful than pushing yourself to change.
Tony Robbins famously said: "Change happens when the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change." I agree with him. From what I've seen in my clients (and myself), we are very good at ignoring the pain of remaining the same.
We can take on more workload, book social events, scroll through social media, binge the latest Netflix series, drink alcohol, take drugs, and eat food designed to be addictive—access to unhelpful distractions is rampant.
So, we need to constantly ask ourselves through self-enquiry if we are truly acting in accordance with the person we want to become or if we are behaving in a way that simply accepts our limiting beliefs and acts with a load of cognitive dissonance.
The In-situ method is not just about feeling better but learning to become better at feeling—understanding our needs, perceptions, desires, and even delusions. These ultimately dictate our behaviours, which shape our results.
